I will never forget the first time I saw Bailey…… in a grassy field with 20 or 30 other dogs, many of them jumping all over him. Buster, as he had been named by the RSPCA staff, had been found tied to railings in a supermarket car park.
He had been at the kennels for about two weeks when we first met. I was looking for a small dog, maybe a King Charles or something of that size, but all that changed when we saw the really big 3 year old Springer in the exercise yard, not playing, just standing there and tolerating the other dogs antics.
After we adopted him we realised that Bailey didn’t really like other dogs… he wasn’t aggressive – he just stood quietly while they sniffed and sussed him out – he was just not interested. In the same way, Bailey preferred the company of men. And of all the men he came into contact with, my son James was the one he loved the most. To be fair, it was a mutual love affair, and wherever James was, Bailey was right beside him.
James bought dog toys for the day we collected him and a special pull toy, 
but we soon learned that Bailey was just as happy carrying an empty soft drink bottle as he was with any toy. Sticks – small, large and enormous, tennis balls, and especially socks were all favourites with our dog, and he was rarely without something in his mouth or something to chew on.
When we first brought Bailey home, he was the quietest dog I had ever encountered. If a door was not quite shut, he would not nose it open as most dogs do, but would wait for it to be opened. It must have been about 5 days after we took him home that I left him shut in the garden while I walked to the shops. Walking back, we must have been about 500 yards away when I became conscious of really loud barking, but it was only as I got closer to home that I realised that Bailey had found his voice, and what a voice it was! Loud and scary was his barking, and we were soon treated to this every time a lorry passed by.
Big and powerful, I struggled to walk him as it felt as though my arm was being pulled out of my socket….. but off the lead, he would walk in front, turning every few minutes to make sure we were still behind him. If there was mud or a puddle, Bailey would find it, and not only would he find it, he would lie down in it. Never happier than when covered in mud and panting from fetching a stick or a ball, he was an excellent retriever and he also loved to swim.
Lying in doorways so as not to miss any action, I could walk over him all day, but as soon as James was home, he was up and ready for action. At night he slept on the bed beside James and it was heartbreaking when James left to work abroad for months and Bailey rarely left his watching post beside the front door for at least 3 weeks, hoping that his best friend would walk through the door. But, the joy of seeing them reunited….
Eleven years of walks and wees, mud and sticks, dog hairs and stolen biscuits, love and licks….. Sadly, his age was catching up with him. No longer wanting a walk, but still eating anything put in front of him, he had to be helped up the stairs. Today, Lucie spent the morning sitting beside him and giving him doggy treats and cuddles, and this afternoon James lifted him in to the car and took him to the vet and stroked him and said his goodbyes.
Strange to walk in to an empty house….. no Bailey waiting patiently for our return. Sad to see his bowls on the kitchen floor and know he will never use them again. Happy to have had such a faithful and loving dog as a part of our family.
I hope you had a good life big boy. You were greatly loved and will be sorely missed.
An Accidental Activist 